Vietnam War

News about Vietnam War, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 21, 2015

Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, once known as Saigon, is brushing off its troubled past and looking forward to fun-loving, capitalistic future, 40 years after it fell to United States forces in Vietnam War; young people are taking advantage of new money flooding city and moving away from conflicts that dominated their parents' lives. MORE

Apr. 27, 2015

Neil Genzlinger Critic's Notebook observes that several historical television programs, inspired by 40th anniversary of fall of Saigon, are focusing on Vietnam War. MORE

Apr. 26, 2015

Op-Ed article by author Viet Thanh Nguyen cites 40th anniversary of end of Vietnam War, saying many personal recollections of that war by refugee families like his remain untold; notes stories are riddled with loss, pain, poverty and difficulties of fitting in to American culture; contends being open about these experiences may chip away at military mindset here in United States, where wars begin. MORE

Apr. 19, 2015

Will Bleakley Lives interview with Phan Phunthavong, who describes how important her husband has been to her; recalls time he saved her life as they were crossing a flooded river in Laos in a truck full of unexploded ordnance, left from the Vietnam War, that they intended to sell for scrap metal. MORE

Apr. 7, 2015

Vietnam War veteran Conley Monk Jr files class action lawsuit seeking to force Veterans Affairs Dept to expedite growing backlog of benefits claims appeals, to be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; Monk struggled fruitlessly for years to receive claims related to post-traumatic stress disorder and exposure to Agent Orange. MORE

Apr. 6, 2015

Lao-American Channapha Khamvongsa has for a decade led effort to rid Laos of cluster bombs dropped by American planes from 1964 to 1973; country harbors large number of unexploded bombs, which often maim or kill unwitting citizens. MORE

Mar. 15, 2015

Marine Corps reverses 1968 decision not to award Purple Heart medals to soldiers who were aboard American aircraft that was accidentally shot down by American howitzer in Vietnam, resulting in deaths of all aboard except Lt Dan Jones; reversal ends Jones's decades-long fight to have his comrades recognized and points to evolving attitudes in military on when to hand out the prestigious, emotionally-charged award. MORE

Oct. 29, 2014

Thomas L Friedman Op-Ed column draws parallels between Vietnam War and current situation in Iraq and Syria; contends that most Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis have embraced or resigned themselves to Islamic State group because they were systematically abused by pro-Shiite regimes of Syrian Pres Bashar al-Assad and Iraqi Prime Min Nuri Kamal al-Maliki; warns that challenge America faces in fighting Islamic State is its tacit alliance with Syria and Iran. MORE

Oct. 10, 2014

Pentagon is planning 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War; effort, which is expected to cost taxpayers nearly $15 million by the end of 2014 fiscal year, is intended to honor veterans; leading Vietnam historians complain, however, that website focuses on dozens of medal-winning soldiers while giving scant mention to mistakes by generals and years of violent protests and anguished debate at home. MORE

Oct. 8, 2014

Op-Ed article by Prof Fredrik Logevall and author Gordon M Goldstein questions whether Pres Obama will allow America to be drawn into situation in Iraq and Syria similar to country's involvement in Vietnam; compares initial reluctance and political pressures faced by Pres Lyndon Johnson to those encountered by Obama; holds that Obama's gloomy realism may not save him from ill-advised military action, particularly once he has started down slippery slope of intervention. MORE

Sep. 16, 2014

Pres Obama awards the Medal of Honor to Specialist Donald P Sloat and Sgt Maj Bennie G Adkins, who risked their lives to protect fellow American soldiers in the Vietnam War. MORE

Sep. 4, 2014

Defense Dept releases new rules that could grant upgrades to thousands of Vietnam-era veterans who have been barred from receiving benefits due to less-than-honorable discharges; rules offer first guidance to military discharge review boards on how to address post-traumatic stress disorder. MORE

Aug. 8, 2014

Study to be presented at American Psychological Assn finds that most veterans who had persistent post-traumatic stress a decade or more after serving in Vietnam War have shown surprisingly little improvement since then; analysis is part of first effort to track large, nationally representative sample of service members through their adult lives. MORE

Mar. 29, 2014

Jeremiah A Denton Jr, who endured seven years of torture as a prisoner in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and who blinked morse code to signal his plight during taped interview, dies at age 89. MORE

Mar. 22, 2014

Army Staff Sgt Lawrence Woods is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, nearly 50 years after he disappeared while fighting in the Vietnam War. MORE

Feb. 19, 2014

Maureen Dowd Op-Ed column notes that family and inner circle of former Pres Lyndon B Johnson are trying to use the 50th anniversary of some of Johnson's more impressive domestic policies to broaden the lens on his legacy beyond the Vietnam War; contends that just as Johnson's legacy is marred by Vietnam, George W Bush's legacy will be yoked to his careless misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. MORE

Feb. 16, 2014

Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of former Pres Lyndon B Johnson, and his diminishing inner circle, are seeking a reconsideration of his legacy as president, arguing that it has been overwhelmed by tragedy of Vietnam War; as 50th anniversary of Johnson's presidential milestones approaches, they are highlighting domestic legislative successes enacted in his last five years in office. MORE

Oct. 5, 2013

Vo Nguyen Giap, relentless and charismatic North Vietnamese general whose campaigns drove both France and the United States out of Vietnam, dies at age 102; was among last survivors of generation of Communist revolutionaries who in decades after World War II freed Vietnam of colonial rule and fought a superpower to a stalemate. MORE

Sep. 16, 2013

Growing number of veterans are searching for children they fathered and left behind during Vietnam War, as their half-Vietnamese children, overcoming immigration hurdles, search for them as well; some estimate that American servicemen fathered tens of thousands of children during war, most of whom were left behind to endure harsh discrimination, though 1987 legislation opened doors for many to become US citizens. MORE

Sep. 5, 2013

Lens blog; photography book Vietnam: The Real War, along with a related exhibition at Steven Kasher Gallery, highlight disturbing images from Vietnam War that turned the tide of public opinion against the conflict. MORE

Jul. 29, 2013

Col Bud Day, Air Force fighter pilot who was shot down in Vietnam War and imprisoned with John McCain in notorious 'Hanoi Hilton,' earning him the Medal of Honor, dies at age 88. MORE

Jun. 21, 2013

William C Rhoden Sports of The Times column on personal memories evoked by commemoration of 1967 radio interview in which Muhammad Ali explained his refusal to be drafted into the Army and serve in Vietnam. MORE

Mar. 26, 2013

Approximately 75 percent of Vietnam-era veterans are still alive in 2013, and their death rate is comparable to other men in their age group. MORE

Mar. 22, 2013

Op-Ed article by Prof Mary L Dudziak rejects Obama administration's justification of targeting killings of Americans suspected of terrorism by citing Pres Richard M Nixon's secret bombing campaign in Cambodia as precedent; contends Cambodia bombing illustrated trouble with secrecy, and way in which secrecy undermines legitimacy of any such policies. MORE

Feb. 25, 2013

Bill Keller Op-Ed column highlights poems written by John Borling during his Vietnam War captivity in notorious Hanoi Hilton, which have been compiled in book Taps on the Walls: Poems From the Hanoi Hilton; contends that these poems, as well as Borling's life, are tribute to underrated virtue of perseverance, and finding contentment in effort. MORE

Jan. 30, 2013

Single grave site honoring American crew whose plane crashed during Vietnam War is being unearthed at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St Louis so that examiners can identify remains. MORE

Jan. 9, 2013

Senator John Kerry and Chuck Hagel responded in different ways to their service in Vietnam; Pres Obama, in nominating Kerry as secretary of state and Hagel as defense secretary, hopes to bring to his administration two veterans with the same sensibility about the futilities of war. MORE

Dec. 10, 2012

Editorial supports lawsuit filed by Vietnam veterans, who are seeking to retroactively upgrade their discharges, that claims the military unfairly refused to consider their PTSD diagnoses when issuing discharge; notes many veterans received other-than-honorable discharges, losing benefits, due to a condition that was not recognized until 1980. MORE

Dec. 3, 2012

Class-action lawsuit filed against American armed forces argues many Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder were issued other-than-honorable discharges and demands their discharges be upgraded; suit raises questions about whether PTSD can be diagnosed retroactively, and whether policies intended to protect troops with PTSD can be applied retroactively as well. MORE

Sep. 12, 2012

Mitt Romney's position in favor of the Vietnam War during his freshman year in college reflected his family's views and his faith in traditional values, but his stance shifted markedly four years later when he called the war a mistake; Romney's position while at Stanford University stood in stark contrast to the majority of the student population (Series: The Long Run). MORE

Sep. 6, 2012

Vietnamese government is treating some people exposed to Agent Orange, defoliant sprayed by American troops during the Vietnam War, using a detoxification method developed by the founder of the Church of Scientology, L Ron Hubbard; about 300 people from the northern province of Thai Binh have passed through the program, which involves taking vitamins and minerals, performing strenuous exercise and sweating in a sauna, among other activities. MORE

Aug. 12, 2012

Op-Ed article by Lien-Hang Nguyen discusses myths about the Vietnam War and how that war compares to the Afghanistan War. MORE

Aug. 10, 2012

United States begins historic clean-up project to rid Vietnam of dioxin, chemical contaminant in Agent Orange, used as a defoliant during the Vietnam War, that has been linked to cancers, birth defects and other diseases; many in Vietnam appreciate the program, which is expected to cost $43 million and take four years to complete, but say effort is too little and too late. MORE

Jul. 12, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton makes a brief stop on her Asia tour in Laos, the first visit by an American secretary of state in 57 years and one that brings into stark relief the enduring legacy of the Vietnam War. MORE

May. 29, 2012

Pres Obama makes pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on Memorial Day to kick off first phase of planned 13-year national commemoration project marking the anniversary of the Vietnam War. MORE

Feb. 12, 2012

Editorial argues that a classified Central Intelligence Agency report on how the intelligence community decided that the Soviet Union was supplying Vietnam with chemical weapons during the Vietnam War should be released to the public; dismisses the CIA's objection to releasing the report as preposterous; speculates that the agency is worried about being embarrassed by the report's findings. MORE

Jan. 17, 2012

Discovery of artemisinin, a malaria wonder drug that is being talked about as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, has a long and much-debated history; most sources agree that it originated during China's effort to assist the Northern Vietnamese during the Vietnam war. MORE

Dec. 6, 2011

Officials in Vietnam say that more than 100,000 Vietnamese have been killed or injured by land mines or other abandoned explosives since the Vietnam War ended nearly 40 years ago; say clearing all of the country will take decades more. MORE

Nov. 24, 2011

Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan tells a United Nations-backed Cambodian court that the secret American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War contributed to the rise of the Khmer Rouge; Khieu Samphan is one of three former Khmer Rouge leaders charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. MORE

Oct. 9, 2011

Op-Ed article by Harvard University emeritus Prof Marvin Kalb asserts that ten years after the start of the war in Afghanistan the specter of the Vietnam war hovers over the Obama administration as a warning of what may yet go wrong; argues that the anguished calculations about Afghanistan indicate that although the Vietnam war took a high toll, it may have left the United States a more mature, sensible and smarter country. MORE

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Highlights From the Archives

Sometime in the mid-1960's, the Vietnam War became known as ''McNamara's War.'' In the seven years Robert S. McNamara served as Secretary of Defense for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon. B. Johnson, the United States commitment in Vietnam soared -- in a soothingly gradual fashion -- from fewer than a thousand Americans to just under half a million.

For a month the public has been immersed in a flood of retrospection and introspection about the Vietnam War, which ended 10 years ago Tuesday. The outpouring indicates that many people are at least as interested in revising history as understanding it.

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